“On our firm course towards sustainable transportation, we are also transforming Pune into a great city for the people, with numerous initiatives to encourage walking, cycling and the use of public transport”, said Mr. Kunal Kumar, IAS, the commissioner of Pune Municipal Corporation. Indian cities are gradually taking greater efforts to improve the quality of life for its citizens, especially in terms of transportation. Pune has come to be a pioneer in this regard.

Among the host of people-oriented initiatives being undertaken by the city, Pune has been working to improve its pedestrian and cycling environment by redesigning its arterial roads as Complete Streets. 27km of streets have been identified for redesign, in the ABD (Area-Based Development) area as part of the Smart City proposal, and 100km under the city’s annual budget. The first phase of these street design projects has already transformed Aundh’s DP Road and JM Road into more vibrant public spaces.

The Jangli Maharaj or JM Road bustles with people and activity – a vibrant street indeed

Complete Streets are those that cater to all user groups – designed with wide and continuous footpaths, safe pedestrian crossings, separate cycle tracks where applicable, conveniently placed bus stops, clearly designated on-street parking, organised street vending and properly-scaled carriageways. With the Smart Cities Mission encouraging the improvement of non-motorised and public transport infrastructure, cities across India are now developing networks of complete streets. Pune has gone over and beyond the Smart City proposal, by setting over twice that target with the Corporation’s own budget.

As the first step towards redesigning the 100km network, Pune Municipal Corporation has empanelled 4 nationally acclaimed architecture and urban design firms – IBI Group Inc., HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd., Oasis Designs Inc. and Design & Planning Counsel. The network has been equally divided and allocated to the designers. Each firm thus gets a ‘package’ of streets, ensuring uniformity in design language and better integration on ground.

Following PMC’s footsteps, Pune Smart City Development Corporation Ltd. is also allotting the 27km network in the ABD Area as 3 neighbourhoods to the empanelled designers. 9km of streets in 1 neighbourhood, including DP Road in Aundh, has been contracted to the IBI Group in partnership with Prasanna Desai Architects.

DP Road in Aundh has been redesigned with dedicated spaces for different users

The first phase of reconstruction under the Smart City Mission has commenced on DP Road. The 1.5km stretch is being remodelled by the designers, kickstarting 520m on the ground. The 3.5m wide footpath on either side of the street has been streamlined to dedicate spaces for different users.

The numerous existing trees that line the stretch have been fundamentally incorporated in the design, with care taken to demarcate soft areas around them to allow for growth, and the perimeter forming seating. In addition, benches have also been provided along the footpath, complementing the shops and making the stretch more vibrant. Art installations, including the attractive casing that has been used to cover up the junction boxes, spruce up the space. Other features such as life-sized snake & ladder boards on the footpath further augment the character of DP Road.

Design features on DP Road: (clockwise from left) Art installations with recycled material; attractive casing covering up the junction boxes; play area for children

Similarly, JM Road, being revamped by Oasis Designs Inc., has also been kicked off on a 300m stretch as part of the first phase. Streamlining the haphazard parking has helped reclaim space for the people, enabling a wider footpath and cycle track. Green spaces serve as buffers to segregate the two speeds of walking and cycling. Bus stops have been located so as to allow for smooth flow of pedestrians and cyclists.

Vendors now have dedicated spaces, as do children – play areas with rubberised soft flooring have been designed at regular intervals between the green buffers. Frontage of the shops spillover to the wide footpath, adding life to the street. Better signage, street lighting and seating are other features that collectively make JM Road a stellar example of street design in the country.

Green spaces serve as buffers to segregate the two speeds of walking and cycling. Bus stops have been located so as to allow for smooth flow of pedestrians and cyclists.

Backing these design changes in the city, are institutional reforms that help enhance the capacity of the government. A dedicated Street Design Cell has been set up with professionals such as urban designers and urban planners to oversee general maintenance of streets and work done by design consultants & contractors, in addition to designing neighborhood streets. The Corporation has also developed a unique set of Urban Street Design Guidelines (USDG) which give clear priority to walking and cycling.

Streets are vital public spaces which go beyond serving as mere channels for the movement of vehicles, but are crucial to the very identity of a city. Acknowledging this fact, Pune is remodelling its streets to respond to the multitude of activities and functions they host. The city thus continues firmly on its course towards becoming more people-friendly by the day.

A scene from a trial run to test the proposed design for the pedestrian plaza in T.Nagar, which was a hit amongst the public.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a splash two years ago when he announced a plan to tackle his nation’s expected rapid urbanization. 100 smart cities would bloom across the world’s second most populous country, with the first 20 serving as “lighthouses” that would inspire the estimated 4,000 cities that are home to one-third of the population – a share that is expected to climb to over 40% by 2030.

Enshrined in a flagship program called the Smart Cities Mission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched a city challenge with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies. In an effort to change entrenched corruption at the municipal level, cities would compete against each other to deliver the best proposals for a share of a whopping US$15 billion allocated by parliament.

As the ministry’s Secretary for Smart Cities, Sameer Sharma is at the nerve center of this massive undertaking. ITDP spoke with him about how India has refined the smart city concept.

ITDP: The theme of the recent MOBILIZE Santiago conference was “just and inclusive cities become the new normal.” How do Indian cities measure up to this ideal?

Sameer Sharma: India’s Smart Cities Challenge invited cities to propose developments that transform existing areas, including slums, into better-planned ones, or explore the potential for new development of greenfield sites outside city boundaries to accommodate a growing urban population. Apart from setting the core objective of improving basic hard and soft infrastructure and introducing smart solutions to Indian cities, the Smart Cities Mission set out a broader ambition to “improve quality of life, create employment and enhance income for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged, leading to inclusive cities. ”

Contrary to the assumption that smart cities project would only be taken up in affluent areas, most cities have chosen neighbourhoods with substantial slum areas, dense and ill-provisioned inner city zones, and railway stations. For example, slum redevelopment forms a major component of the Ahmedabad plan. The redevelopment proposal for Wadaj slum includes housing for 8,000 slum dwellers and development of a community centre, schools, aanganwadis [mother and child care center], and complete infrastructure improvement including open spaces in the area. 12 out of the 20 lighthouse cities have cumulatively proposed affordable housing projects offering around 55,000 housing units.

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ITDP: What do you see as the role that the national government should play in helping cities achieve these goals?

Sameer Sharma: The London School of Economics studied India’s Smart City Challenge and found that it was perceived as being instrumental in promoting a degree of agency and flexibility for city governments and encouraging them to take initiative while operating within an established federal framework. Many respondents felt that the competitive component of the Smart Cities Challenge allowed cities considerable space to develop their proposals. This greater flexibility was also reinforced by the encouragement to identify financing mechanisms independent from state or national sources.

The Smart Cities Mission was perceived as a localized program that gave city governments the space to shape their city’s proposals without much intervention from the central government. This can be attributed to the center’s capacity building initiatives, and the competitive format itself that generated enthusiasm and involvement at the municipal level. On the whole, the central government’s role in the competition phase appeared to be limited to competition guidelines and capacity building exercises through which it shared best practices, ideas and modes of financing projects. Overall, the Smart Cities Challenge signaled a shift in the balance of power between city, state, and central government.

How do you define smart cities? What are the key things that make a city smart?

A smart city has a different connotation in India than in, say, Europe. Even in India, a smart city means different things to different people and the conceptualization of a smart city varies from city to city, state to state, and region to region, depending on the level of development, willingness to change and reform, and resources and aspirations of the city residents. No single definition can capture the diverse conceptualizations of city residents, especially in the unique Indian culture containing dynamic, diverse, and contextual rules in use. A survey by the Center for Study of Science, Technology & Policy found that there are nearly four-dozen ways of defining a smart city. Therefore, the Indian Smart City Mission did not start with a definition of a smart city but invited cities, through a competition, to define their idea of “smartness” and the pathway to achieve it.

As a result, drawing on the Smart City Challenge proposals, the following definition has been derived: The Indian Smart Cities Mission adapted and redefined the global discourse around ‘Smart Cities’ to create its own unique take on a ‘Smart City’, one that features but is not centered exclusively on technology and includes a strong emphasis on area-based development, citizen preferences, and basic infrastructure and services.

Two trial runs were organized by the Chennai Smart City Ltd. to test the proposed design for the pedestrian plaza in T.Nagar. The 700m stretch was bustling with activity and shoppers during both trial runs – a hit amongst the public.

The Coimbatore Smart Streets Exhibition was organized by the Coimbatore Corporation and Coimbatore Smart City Ltd. as a community engagement program, to inform the citizens of the designs of the 6 Model Roads and gather their feedback.

What cities around the world are you most interested in today? Who is doing innovative work in your field?

Several cities are doing remarkable work in the field of ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’ urban development. I am impressed with Copenhagen on walkability, Adelaide for placemaking, integrated command and control centers in New York and Berlin, how Oakland has tackled liveability, Bilbao’s strategies for urban renewal, and Barcelona’s overall urban transformation.

Is the challenge approach fueling innovation within Indian Cities?

An important innovation in the competition process was that it allowed state governments to select cities to participate, while municipal governments had to demonstrate enthusiasm in order to be successful. A second innovative development of the Smart Cities Challenge was that it sidestepped the issue of forcing state governments to devolve funding by allowing convergence of funding from other schemes. By requiring agency and alignment from both city and state, the Smart Cities Challenge encouraged cooperation and led to increased municipal initiative while allowing the continued role of the state government.

This interview is the part of the MOBILIZE Santiago Speaker Series. In this series, we will feature interviews with speakers and researchers from VREF’s Future Urban Transport where they will discuss their work in sustainable transport and reflecting on MOBILIZE Santiago’s theme: Just and Inclusive Cities Become the New Normal. To learn more about MOBILIZE Santiago and next year’s summit in Dar es Salaam, visit mobilizesummit.org.

by Daniel Paschall

Which of the two images above shows a public space? Technically both. But they are two very different approaches to what makes a public space, and they beg larger questions for all cities. Which public space is more inviting? Which one looks like a place for all people? Which public space gives more back to its city?

The images show Philadelphia’s South Street, a vibrant mix of shops, restaurants, and residences at the border of Center City’s hustle and bustle and the tightly packed rowhouse neighborhoods of South Philly.

On the left: South Street on a typical Saturday. Although the street looks physically crowded, it is hard to see how many people are actually present, because the entire streetscape is taken up by parked cars or kept clear for those driving in cars.

On the right: South Street on an exceptional Saturday, September 24, during Philadelphia’s first open streets event, Philly Free Streets. As people walking five abreast illustrate, the street is full of life. And yet there are no visible street vendors or food stands, like at Philadelphia’s Night Markets, the typical city approach to draw pedestrian crowds. The people are not holding protest signs, nor are they dressed in costumes as part of a parade. They are simply walking down the street, in the middle of the street. That is the power of open streets.

Photo by Daniel Paschall

Open Streets are Public Spaces Brought to Life

What is the purpose of an open streets event? At first glance, walking down a street might seem redundant. After all, most urban streets have sidewalks. But prioritizing street space for people-powered movement speaks to a much deeper purpose than simply changing the use of a street. When people walk, they exercise without thinking about it, become less stressed, and add years to their lives. When people walk in the street without fear of getting hit by a car, they open up their minds to their surroundings: family, friends, and neighbors walking around them; flowers and trees they’ve never noticed before; or the history embedded in building architecture, all of which glides by at an easy pace.

On foot, people can pause at any moment without worrying about parking (or double-parking). They can casually check out a shop or glance at a restaurant menu. Taking a moment to make a call, text a friend, or look something up online no longer becomes a life-threatening choice when made at an open streets event. Without car exhaust, the air will be cleaner to breathe. Without honking horns, conversations and laughter will be more pleasant to hear. Infuse an open streets event with activity and cultural programs, and suddenly people will be invited to dance, jump rope, create art, play music, or simply sit back and watch it all unfold. There is near unlimited potential in the streets that is unlocked simply by putting people first.

Photo by Daniel Paschall

Growing Momentum to Take Back the Narrative of the Streets

Philly Free Streets was Philadelphia’s first open streets event, which took over South Street and extended up along the Schuylkill River to Fairmount Park for nearly ten miles. In doing so, Philadelphia joined in a growing movement of over one hundred cities and towns around the world.

For example, New York City’s Summer Streets shuts down Park Avenue in Manhattan for tens of thousands of participants a few times every August. Recently, Nairobi, Kenya and Pune, India have hosted open street events. Los Angeles hosts CicLAvia periodically throughout the year for over one hundred thousand people and across a wide variety of neighborhoods. In Guadalajara, Mexico, Vía RecreActiva gives arterial streets over to nearly two hundred thousand every Sunday, and Santiago, Chile, opens up an entire network of streets during CicloRecreoVía to about four hundred thousand every Sunday. Finally, the mother of all open streets events is held in Bogotá, which started in 1974 and has grown into the 80-mile-long Ciclovía, in which over one million people take to the streets every Sunday and holiday throughout the year.

Although these events are only temporary in nature, they are essential to rewriting the narrative of the street. Open streets are an intervention in the face of a city’s addiction to cars and a real-time chance to experience the argument in favor of streets as truly public spaces. As more cities host open streets at increasing frequencies, more people will be exposed to a new way of experiencing their city. Soon enough, the once-radical idea of people-prioritized streets takes on a mainstream reputation. Simultaneously, the century-old narrative that streets are for cars alone starts to fall apart.

Above all, open streets events let people live briefly in an alternate reality where their city prioritizes streets for people. This alternate reality challenges what people experience in their daily life, and argues that streets where people come first are not only possible but better than the current reality.

Connect Temporary Changes to Permanent Transformations

This new outlook can be accelerated beyond temporary events by advocating for a wide variety of small, incremental changes that share the same DNA as open streets. Examples include converting under-used or dangerous road space into space for public plazas, widened sidewalks, protected intersections, and protected bike lanes. When proposed as a demonstration or on a pilot basis, these incremental projects are much quicker, more cost-effective, and above all, more acceptable to the public than the often expensive and controversial capital projects that takes years or even decades to construct – often with unintended consequences only apparent after completion.

Open streets events can be linked to pop-up infrastructure, such as pop-up bike lanes in Minneapolis as seen here…

Open streets events can work in tandem with these pop-up and pilot projects by highlighting the changes during an event that educates participants or even connects them along the route of the event to a pop-up. In Minneapolis, Open Streets MPLS seized the opportunity of their event to connect cyclists to pop-up interventions such as protected intersections and protected bike lanes along the route. Afterwards, organizers collected feedback from participants.

Applying this strategy to a long-term scale, the content and projects highlighted by open streets events can tie into a comprehensive plan. This is starting to be the case in cities like Los Angeles, where CicLAvia links up with the city’s Mobility Plan 2035, passed early this year. CicLAvia routes are designed for streets that have been targeted for improved biking and walking infrastructure, which ultimately reinforces a larger network for active transport. By connecting the ephemeral yet mentally impactful open streets events with less press-worthy but more substantial short-to-long-term citywide efforts, cities can be more intentional about transforming their streets by strategies far greater than the sum of their parts.

These ideas for PMPML’s business development plan were not suggested by a transport planner, a banker, or a tech expert. These were suggestions from the young citizens of Pune, India at a citizens’ engagement workshop!

PMPML, the public transport service provider for the city, organized two such workshops in collaboration with Ernst & Young. The first workshop was held in Aundh on January 12th, 2017, followed by one in Pimpri on January 19th. The aim of the program was to collect people’s feedback on existing public transport conditions in the city and their recommendations to improve bus services through PMPML’s business plan.

Rainbow BRT in Pune

The business plan is an important step towards attaining a 40% modal share of public transport in the city – one of the goals in Pune’s comprehensive mobility plan. Ernst & Young & UMTC have been appointed to create the business plan. ITDP has helped PMPML put together the scope of work for the business plan and is also a member of the review committee.

The business plan will include short-term (3 years), medium-term (8-10 years) and long term (10-20 years) plans in order to achieve continued delivery of good service. Contrary to a business plan that generally comprises of purely technical details detached from the people and devoid of their inputs, PMPML’s plan is being made inclusive and people-oriented right from scratch.

The citizens’ engagement workshops were a part of this strategy to include the public and get their on-ground opinion. During the workshop, several issues were brought forward, a majority of them focused on everyday transit ordeals. The physical condition of the bus, conflicts with the conductor and dissatisfaction with the driving, were a few of these concerns. The program thus proved to be a good platform for PMPML to learn about these problems, which the agency has promised to resolve immediately.

Apart from micro-scale suggestions, macro-level long term ideas were also raised, especially by the youngsters in the crowd. These included ways to make the service more affordable and brand it better, for the benefit of both the users and the service provider. Another suggestion was to award points to PMPML employees as encouragement for good work. Fixed deposit investments could be considered for better fundraising. Setting up an online portal to create a virtual marketplace for spare parts, thus promoting healthy competition among traders and better rates, was also suggested.

Comments from the workshops are currently being compiled to be included in the plan. Apart from the citizens engagement program, people’s feedback is being collected in other methods as well such as on-board (during the journey) & off-board surveys by representatives from Ernst & Young. Photography, essay writing, and slogan-phrasing competitions along with other contests have been organized to increase awareness of the use of public transport, while also gathering people’s thoughts on the issues.

By allowing people to voice out their opinion in different ways and acknowledging that stakeholders should play a key role in shaping any service for the people, Pune is setting a great example for other cities. Following Pune’s lead, Coimbatore is also organizing an exhibition to showcase the design ideas for its Model Roads. This exhibition will also serve to collect people’s feedback on the proposal and help shape the final design. Coimbatore Smart Streets Exhibition is to be held on the 18th & 19th February, 2017.

“If we play in our backyard, the shuttlecock always falls into a neighbor’s compound!”, complained little Anaya and Avani, residents of Aundh, Pune. In a city that is getting more congested by the day leaving behind fewer playgrounds, Anaya and Avani are joined by other Pune locals in grumbling about a lack of open public space. However, for a week now, and everyday in the nearby future, children and adults alike have a chance to play in the open to their heart’s content – right on the streets!

As a step towards returning Pune’s streets back to its residents, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has organized a week-long trial of “HEALTHY Aundh- Street and Pedestrian Walkway” until 15th October, 2016. A stretch of 1.5 km between Bremen Chowk and Parihar junctions in Aundh has been converted into a pedestrian-only zone for this test run.

The idea of pedestrians and cyclists reclaiming some space back from vehicles has been receiving positive feedback in Pune. This welcome has been witnessed during the numerous pre-event meetings with various stakeholders, shop owners and residents of Aundh, who believe that it is high time for a change of this scale. A few concerns have been raised by a small group of local shop-owners, who were apprehensive about the impact of the pedestrianization on sales in the region. Despite this minor discrepancy, the general consensus is that the freedom to walk and cycle is every citizen’s right!

In addition to public backing, immense support from Prasanna Desai Architects (PDA), IBI Group, Pavetech Consultants, CEE, and McKinsey Group with technical counsel from ITDP, has helped PMC get this challenging project on ground. The traffic police have also played an important role in assisting the Corporation and the architects with the design for this test run.

As per this plan, half of the road between Bremen and Parihar junctions has been completely reallocated for pedestrians and cyclists, giving them enough room for safe movement. The aim is to create a better environment for both the individual and the community. Hence, the layout for the pedestrianized street includes a combination of elements that seek to de-congest public space.

These elements include a cycle track, in line with the city’s vision to substantially increase its current cycling share of 9%. A separate, wide footpath allows pedestrians to walk without obstructing the cyclists. Street furniture with clear road signage has been placed in different areas within the zone to enhance the experience of the pedestrians and shoppers. While some on-street parking slots have been retained along the other half of the road, the overall design of the plaza reduces space occupied by parking and repurposes it for people’s use.

A shopping destination, these streets on Aundh attract a lot of local residents. To make it easy for them to visit, Kinetic Motors has provided electric vehicles to shuttle along four color-coded routes every ten minutes during the trial week. This free service should encourage residents to abandon their private vehicles and opt for publicly-shared transport methods instead, until they get habituated to walking and cycling as mainstream modes of commute.

With these changes in place this week, Aundh has been witness to children playing happily on the streets, families strolling uninterrupted, shoppers enjoying at the stores, locals peacefully riding their bicycles for running errands, seniors sitting on benches under trees having animated conversation on politics – a scene unimaginable in the past!

The mock is but one among many new beginnings for Pune. The city also recently launched the open data portal as a part of the Digital India Initiative, which will soon make Pune’s transport and traffic data freely accessible to all. With these continuous efforts by the PMC combined with the positivity in the air, Pune is definitely on the right track towards becoming a sustainably developing city!

Pune, Coimbatore and Chennai have been making huge progress creating sustainable cities. Each has made great strides in recent years, laying the groundwork for even bigger changes to come. Thanks to their demonstrated successes and well-developed plans for next steps, all three have been selected for the first round of India’s national Smart Cities Mission.

Right now, experts estimate that about 25-30 people migrate every minute to major Indian cities in search of better livelihood and better lifestyles. It is predicted that by 2050, Indian cities will house nearly 843 million people. This massive increase in population will put incredible pressure on India’s cities, requiring new infrastructure for transportation, energy, and safety. To address these imminent issues, the Government of India has established the Smart Cities Mission, a program directing 15 billion USD, split between national and local government, to helping cities invest in sustainable infrastructure and growth. Pune, Coimbatore and Chennai, all cities ITDP has helped set on a more sustainable course, have each been selected for the first round of participation in the program, allowing them to fund new projects for a sustainable future.

As part of the Smart Cities Mission, each of these three cities have proposed to invest over 88 million USD (600 Crore rupees) in sustainable transport projects. By pegging this money to tangible, area-based improvements, the cities have a clear plan to transform over the next 5 years, bringing widespread socio-economic benefits to a large section of society. ITDP is proud to have partnered with Pune, Coimbatore, and Chennai to chart out their sustainable paths for the future.

The Smart Cities Mission will eventually support 100 cities. Twenty cities were recently selected to participate in the first year of the program.

To facilitate easy interchange between Rainbow BRT and other buses, Pune has proposed a new transit hub. Above, a recently built terminal that integrates BRT buses with the non-BRT buses.

ITDP has been working with Pune, Coimbatore, and Chennai in different roles, providing technical support to projects, capacity building for officials, and creating community engagement at various levels. In the twin cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, ITDP helped implement the Rainbow BRT, incorporating best practices in BRT planning and design. ITDP has been instrumental in helping Chennai adopt a Non-Motorized Transport Policy and overseeing its implementation through street design and engaging with citizens through initiatives like car-free Sundays. In Coimbatore, the Namma Kovai Namakke (Our Coimbatore Ourselves) campaign, initiated by ITDP, sparked citizen demand for better pedestrian facilities, all of which formed the groundwork for the Smart City proposals developed by these cities.

In the next 5 years, Pune aims to increase the mode share of public transport from 18 percent to 50 percent by augmenting its bus fleet and improving bus services using Intelligent Traffic Management Systems (ITMS). The city also aims to expand its high quality BRT network by 30 km and improve access to transit by creating 75 km network of footpaths and cycle tracks.

Better NMT facilities are proposed in T. Nagar, a commercial and retail hub of Chennai

In keeping with its NMT policy, Chennai aims to develop ‘Complete Streets’ and build footpaths to cover 80% of its major roads. A city-wide cycle sharing system with 3000 cycles and an IT-based parking management system are also expected to give a major thrust to walking and cycling while restricting private vehicle use.

Non-motorized transport is a key focus for Coimbatore as well, where the city aims to create NMT infrastructure along 75 percent of its primary and secondary road networks before 2020. A 30 km network of greenways connecting major lakes in the city is expected to improve quality of open space for its residents. The city also aims to increase mode share of public transport from 42 percent to 60 percent by modernizing and expanding public bus services.

Congratulations to these cities, and all the selected Smart Cities, for the exciting work preparing India’s cities for a more sustainable future.

Pune, a city of 3.5 million in western India, has been facing increasingly acute traffic congestion for the last several years. Growing population, wider sprawl and increasing income levels have poured two-wheelers and cars on Pune’s streets at a rate the city was not prepared for. Always finding itself in a reactive mode, the city tried to combat congestion with wider roads and flyovers, only to discover that the cars kept coming and the problems got worse. Despite Pune’s long history of loving the bicycle, investments that made using a car or a two wheeler easier always seemed to take precedence.

Then, in the 2016-17 budget, something happened. The city of Pune recently announced they plan to spend 50% of the transportation budget on BRT, footpaths and cycle tracks next year. This is a major leap for the city, and an example for Indian cities on how to prioritize sustainable transport of all kinds.

In earlier years, the city did spent some money improving bus stops, buying buses and building footpaths, but these projects were generally considered extra benefits for residents, rather than integral parts of the transportation infrastructure. While 20-25% went to improving footpaths and the bus service, the municipal budgets allocated a major portion of their transportation budget to benefit personal motor vehicles, and hardly anything was spent on bicycling facilities. In plans for next year’s budget, however, that number has doubled, thanks to the rising understanding and role of sustainable transportation in Pune.

In 2015, Pune got its first BRT corridor, “Rainbow”. The 8 km corridor is part of a planned 102 km network that is under construction. The system had been planned for quite a while, until the Pune Commissioner Mr Kumar recognized its benefits and decided to give it the push it needed to finish construction. Today, 12% of Rainbow’s riders have switched from other modes to the bus. It is easy to see that extending the network will boost the modal shift further. This recognition of sustainable transport’s benefits has sparked a new era of focus on BRT, cycling and walking for Pune, and the budget is the next step.

For 2016-17, Mr. Kumar realized that promoting public transport, walking and cycling is the best way to improve transportation in Pune. After many discussions with ITDP, his proposed budget allocates more resources to these modes than ever. The budget includes funds for a further 30 km of Rainbow BRT. Cycle tracks and modern footpaths are planned along the upcoming 14 km Nagar Road BRT corridor, which will make it the longest corridor in the country to support BRT with good pedestrian and cycling facilities. Mr. Kumar has allocated funds for another 70 km footpaths in other parts of Pune as well.

The funding will support the city’s impressive new plans and policies. Pune is working on a new pedestrian policy, a parking policy that aims to charge for parking spaces and use the revenue for facilities for sustainable modes, and a bicycle plan to increase the mode share of cycling in the city. In addition, Mr. Kumar is initiating reforms like establishing an Urban Transport Fund (UTF), funded by revenues from road tax, road trenching fees, and parking fees, and will be used for sustainable transportation projects.

With such a significant leap in the Commissioner’s budget for 2016-17, all are optimistic that Pune will not only be on a strong course for sustainability, but will also provide a role model and inspiration to other cities in the state and the country.

Just months into operations, the Rainbow BRT in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, India is moving a whopping 67,000 commuters per day and receiving widespread attention. The high ridership is proof of the comfort of the system, and surveys show that passengers find taking the bus very convenient. On November 28, 2015, a new 8km, 14 station stretch of Rainbow BRT opened in Pimpri-Chinchwad, broadening access to the network. The dramatic success of Rainbow is part of why the system was recently awarded “Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Mobility” at the Volvo Sustainable Mobility Awards 2015.

Since the launch of the first Rainbow BRT corridor in Pune on 30th August 2015, thousands of commuters have enjoyed high quality bus rides like never before. For the first time, citizens experienced the ease of use that comes with the system’s closed stations with sliding doors, level boarding, informative displays and transit maps. For passengers, the biggest incentive has been travel time savings. Dedicated bus lanes allow Rainbow buses to travel more quickly, ensuring that commuters reach their destinations 10 to 15 minutes earlier than usual.

Thanks to the BRT’s high degree of reliability and convenience, a commuter shift was natural. Surveys carried out by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) showed that 12 percent of Rainbow users switched from using other modes of transport besides bus, including two wheelers, para-transit, and even cars. Now, instead of taking personal vehicles, which contribute more to congestion and pollution, these commuters take public transit. These benefits speak to the achievement of the system, and validate the challenges it had to overcome to reach operations.

Rainbow BRT serves the neighbouring cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The two cities, with two different municipal governments, installed the BRT infrastructure with different funding sources. The processes, timelines, and aspirations of these two cities were different, and presented many planning challenges that needed to be coordinated to give users a seamless BRT experience.

For example, Pune attempted a pilot BRT system in 2006, and the new system planned to use the designs and practices of the pilot project, where possible. In contrast, Pimpri-Chinchwad was starting on a clean slate, and designing the entire system afresh. The differences in approach led to several design challenges— most notably, the choice of station design. While the Pune BRT pilot had used split stations, with platforms on both sides of the bus lanes, the Pimpri-Chinchwad BRT opted for median-aligned stations, as recommended by the BRT Standard. After many meetings and discussions with officials and media, Pune too was convinced to adopt median stations, a decision that was crucial for the success of Rainbow BRT.

The other big challenge in designing the system was ensuring good bus frequency and a reliable schedule. To help this process, ITDP undertook a massive exercise to analyze the pre-BRT ridership of all bus routes in the two cities at multiple times, and along different sections of each route. Based on the study, ITDP recommended that the PMPML, the system bus operator, curtail, extend and/or merge some routes, resulting in all existing trips being supported with fewer routes and higher frequency. Load factor was improved where it was low and feeder routes were introduced to serve fringe areas. This improved reliability, a key factor in attracting high use of the bus system, and in helping riders reach home sooner.

On November 25, Rainbow received acclaim on the national stage for its success. At the Volvo Sustainable Mobility Awards, Rainbow was awarded for its ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Mobility’, in recognition of Rainbow’s role in reducing reliance on personal motorized vehicles and offering a true mass rapid transit system that provides high quality, rapid, predictable and reliable, safe and attractive public transport to the masses. Instituted in 2011 by Volvo Buses India, the Volvo Sustainable Mobility Awards aim to recognize outstanding efforts in the broad area of sustainable mobility.

Just three months after Rainbow opened, a new 8km stretch in Pimpri-Chichwad debuted November 28th. Since the recently opened corridors form only a fraction of the eventual 147 km network, the success of the system thus far will help ensure speedy implementation of the rest of the network, and more convenience for all.

That was the reaction from one of the riders on India’s newest Bus Rapid Transit system, Rainbow, the first corridor of which was launched this weekend in Pune. The sleek new BRT system will serve the neighboring cities of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad in western India and will give residents the benefits of a strong mass rapid transit system.

The two cities are facing problems that challenge many municipalities in rapidly urbanizing countries. Increasing use of personal motorized vehicles, fuelled by the growing purchasing power of the middle class, is leading to excessive congestion and air pollution. The lack of reliable public transport has made matters worse. After years of these concerns mounting, the Rainbow system comes as a glimmer of hope for the region, offering a viable alternative to private car use.

The first corridor of Rainbow opened in Pune on 30 August and will offer free rides for a month to seek feedback from commuters. The Pimpri-Chinchwad corridor joins the network on September 5. Both corridors run through residential and commercial areas, connecting people with schools, offices and hospitals. From day one, the corridors are expected to carry 60,000 commuters daily. Rainbow will not only transport riders reliably and quickly, but also with increased comfort and ease thanks to the system’s BRT features, including dedicated lanes, closed stations with sliding doors, transit maps, informative displays and level boarding.

However, it has not been a smooth ride for BRT in Pune. In 2006, Pune experimented with a BRT system. The 13 km pilot corridor was the first in the country. However, the system failed to implement many standard BRT features and met only moderate success. Today, those routes are largely served by traditional bus service again.

Learning from this experience, and from the successful BRTs later commissioned in India and around the world, leaders were determined to get the system right. The Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipalities implemented the infrastructure, while PMPML, the two cities’ public transport service provider, will manage operations. ITDP provided technical guidance for the design and implementation of Rainbow. For PMPML, a significant challenge was how to retrofit a BRT system on an existing bus system. ITDP made that task simpler though a massive route rationalization effort, resulting in more frequent service and a more effective use of the system’s buses.

While both Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad received financial support for implementing the Rainbow BRT from the Government of India under the JNNURM scheme, Pimpri-Chinchwad was also assisted by the World Bank under the Sustainable Urban Transport Program (SUTP). Citizens hope that this network will bring a mass transit system closer to their homes and provide relief from traffic congestion.

Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad are just getting started. The new corridors are the beginning of a plan for a 140km BRT network, projected to carry nearly 900,000 passengers daily. This will be one of the largest planned networks in India. With a strong system in place and big plans ahead, the residents of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have a bright future.